A leading legal publication reports the White House is undertaking a study on crypto asset mining and the attendant environmental consequences.
According to Bloomberg Law, the priority of the is to develop policy recommendations for reducing crypto mining energy consumption and emissions footprint.
Says White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Principal Assistant Director for Energy Costa Samaras,
“It’s important, if this is going to be part of our financial system in any meaningful way, that it’s developed responsibly and minimizes total emissions. When we think about digital assets, it has to be a climate and energy conversation.”
The study, which is coming months after President Joe Biden signed an executive order aimed at ensuring the responsible development of digital assets, will reportedly examine issues ranging from the noise pollution by crypto mining farms to the various mining techniques.
“We need to think about what would be the appropriate policy responses under a world that shifted to proof-of-stake, or a world that has some continuous mix of proof-of-work and proof-of-stake. Proof-of-work is energy-intensive by design, but it also increases security.”
A proof-of-work consensus mechanism, like the one Bitcoin uses, has massive energy requirements as members of the network expend computing power to solve complex mathematical puzzles to validate transactions. Proof of stake is energy efficient as members of the network stake their crypto assets to have a shot at validating transactions.
The validators are compensated in crypto in both cases.
The results of the study will be released in August, per the report.
